October 31, 2000Long-awaited Eatons catalogue returnsCONCORD, Ont.  The new Eatons catalogue was released across Canada yesterday for the first time in 24 years. The printing of the 4.2 million, 100-page, full-colour copies was awarded to St. Joseph Corporation back in February. CEO Tony Gagliano said yesterday that we did not only do the print on that, we did the content creation. So all the photography, all the copywriting, all the design, we did all of that for that catalogue. Networks, a division of St. Joseph Corporation, was also awarded the contract to produce the Web site, www.eatons.com, which went live yesterday. St. Joseph will be printing the second issue, but both companies are still in discussions over subsequent issues of the catalogue. The value of the contracts were not released.

WPA announces winners of Print AwardsALEXANDRIA, Va.  The Web Printing Association (WPA), a division of Printing Industries of America (PIA), has released the winners of the 1999 WPA Print Awards. WPA says 514 printed pieces were considered and 39 awards were presented in 13 categories. Included among the winners were Canadian shops: The Delta Group of Scarborough, Ont. won three awards; North Hill Web Printers of Calgary, Transcontinental Printing of Anjou, Que., Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distribution of Willowdale, Ont. and Webcom Limited also of Scarborough, Ont. each picked up one award. For information on submitting entries, contact: lreynolds@printing.org.

October 27, 2000Horseshoe Press expands and movesRICHMOND, B.C.  Horseshoe Press, which was established 12 years ago, is moving to a larger facility in Vancouver Nov. 1. Owner Dickey Tem says operations will continue at the 3,600-sq.-ft. site until early December. The new site is a 6,000-sq.-ft facility. The general commercial offset printer recently installed a new trimmer, perf/score/slit system and a 6-colour Komori press. Tem says theyve also hired three employees.

Grove Packagings equipment up for saleTORONTO  Grove Packaging went into receivership in July and this week Century Services Inc. announced that the companys equipment is up for sale. Century Services is taking offers and anything leftover will be auctioned. No date has yet been set. Equipment up for sale includes a CMF Europa 1006 800FPM 6-colour centralized poly bag printing machine with 57 impression roll; a 500 FPM CAP 50, 6-colour fully reversible roll-fed printing press with dual unwinder, turret and rewinder; a Mosstype M18-3 5 proofer/rubber plate mounter; GN packaging 250-48 48 wide side weld bag machine; a 32 bag making machine with right angle unwind and web guide; and a USM C895 die cutter.Quebecor World is pro-BushMONTREAL  An article in The Globe and Mail on Oct. 21, stated that Quebecor Inc.s U.S. subsidiary, Quebecor World Inc., donated $100,000 to the Republican party. Quebecor was one of several companies, including Thomson Corp. and Hollinger Inc., to aid U.S. political parties.

October 24, 2000QIGC announces fundingMONTREAL  During the Quebec Institute of Graphic Communications (QIGC) Annual Governors Assembly in mid-October, the Institute announced the latest round of funding. The four-year-old, non-profit facility received digital workflow equipment and software; CTP processors; digital presses and printers; automatic register for web offset presses; other laboratory equipment and additional funding. More than $2,700,000 was donated. André Dion, general director, says the facility offers training, research and development and information to the industry in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Were still quite new, he says, but we have a commitment with the industry that we will be keeping our equipment up-to-date with the latest technology available. The 38,000 sq.-ft. facility employs 20 full-time and 40 on a contract basis. Dion says they also test inks and paper printability and have guest instructors from RIT who offer training in English. The QIGC began with $15 million; $9 million from the private sector and $6 million from the government.

Subsidy directory now availableST-ANDREWS WEST, Ont.  The Ontario Subsidy Directory Year 2000 Edition is now available. The Directory, produced by MG Publishing, lists financial subsidies, grants and loans offered by the government, associations, foundations and organizations. The Directory can be downloaded (www.mgpublishing.net) and used to start up a business, create a business plan and solicit experts in different fields, including communications.

October 20, 2000HRDCs other scandalOTTAWA  Human Resources Development Canada had to reprint about 7.2 million T4 slips and inserts in January. Reprinting cost the department about $1.2 million for the T4 slips and $200,000 for the inserts. The original run cost the department $800,000, says Daniel Lavoie, a spokesperson for the HRDC in Hull, Que. Lavoie told PrintCan yesterday that an employee discovered a phone number on the slip was not in service in Canada, but says it was in service in the U.S. While Lavoie could not confirm it, an article in The Globe and Mail on Oct. 16 claimed the number was a phone-sex line in the U.S. Our quality control failed, said Lavoie, we should have done a better job. The slips were printed last December and were ready for mailing for Jan. 31. The error was discovered in January, and reprinting began immediately so pensioners would receive them in the mail before Feb. 28in time to file their income tax forms. Lavoie says the increased cost of reprinting was reasonable. Do they [printers] have the paper in stock? Do they have time on their machines?...So it was a rush. Rush, rush and you can square that, he said. He also stressed it wasnt a printer error. You know how everything is their [the printers'] fault? Well, not this time.

Shareholders approve UPM-Kymmenes bidMIRAMICHI, N.B.  UPM-Kymmene Corp., which is based in Finland, and Repap Enterprises Inc. announced that the shareholders have approved UPM-Kymmenes bid to buy Repap. The offer, worth about Cdn$160 million, was made in late August. The mill will operate under the name of UPM-Kymmene Miramichi. Repap produces magazine paper and claims a 9% share of the North American capacity. UPM-Kymmene produces printing papers, converting materials and wood products.

October 17, 2000Environment Canada targets the printing industryVANCOUVER  Environment minister David Anderson announced a series of initiatives Oct. 10 that are directed at cleaner air for B.C. Among the industries targeted was the printing industry. Anderson said the plan is to work with the Printing Environmental Steering Committee (PESC) to reduce the use of solvents containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In related news, Andrew Green, project engineer with Environment Canada, says PESC has developed a suite of tools to aid printers with reducing VOC emissions. One of the tools, to be officially launched later this year, is a poster. Two versions will be released, one is called Our Offset Printing Environment and the other, Our Screen Printing Environment. The posters list different solutions for reducing emissions.

October 13, 2000Benwell-Atkins is now a member of the Quality Color GroupEDMONTON  Quality Color Group acquired Vancouver-based Benwell-Atkins Ltd. in early September. The announcement was made this week. Richard McCallum, president and CEO of Quality Color Groupwhich includes Print Stop Inc., Screaming Colour Inc. and Quality Color Press Inc.says the two companies have had a working relationship for the last 10 years. The acquisition means being able to combine resources. Benwell doesnt have 40 Speedmaster equipmentwe do, says McCallum. They are really experts in multi-colour printing on different sizes of presses, theyre a very big player in the digital print marketwere not. I mean, really, its a terrific opportunity for us. Part of the funding for the purchase was provided by Moore Corporation Ltd. Stephen Forbes, spokesperson for Moore, says Moore increased [its] ownership in Quality Color to 50% [up from 40%] to help fund their acquisition of Benwell-Atkins. Benwell-Atkins is family-owned, was established in 1927 and has annual sales of between $15 million and $18 million. McCallum says the family was looking for an exit strategy, though they will still be involved in running the company and will also take an equity position in Quality Color.

It's all systems go at Digeno.comCHICAGO  Rumours that Digeno.com, the e-commerce site created by R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, was put on hold are not true, says Martin Maloney, spokesperson for the company. The site, which launched officially at Graph Expo in September, may have experienced some "hiccups," says Maloney, but is alive and well. Digeno.com allows users to specify jobs and find printers, track orders, share job information with colleagues and establish templates for frequently printed jobs. R.R. Donnelley reportedly invested up to US$9 million into the site.Is it still a Macs-only club?HARRISVILLE, R.I.  TrendWatch, which issues reports on the graphics, publishing and electronic media markets, says printers and service bureaux are increasingly using PC files. But, only 16% of service bureaux and 17% of quick/commercial printers cite using PC-formatted files as a challenge. This is down 21% of service bureaux and 26% of quick/commercial printers as of a year ago.

October 10, 2000Quebecor Communications acquires multimedia distributorMONTREAL  Quebecor Communications Inc. announced last week that it has acquired DM Diffusion Multimédia Inc., also based in Montreal. DM Diffusion is a distributor of French-language CD Roms. André Maynard, general manager for Québec-Livresa division of Quebecor Communicationssays DM is a good fit because were both in the same market, but theyre specialized in the scholastic market and were into retail, so the merger of both markets will give us leadership in the market. DM Diffusion has approximately 15 employees and only distributes in Quebec and Québec-Livres has 100 employees and distributes books and some software.

Envelope manufacturer makes a moveMISSISSAUGA  Michael Zafer says moving his company to a bigger facility has helped eliminate obstacles most people have, namely inventory. Zafer is president of Flap & Seal Envelope Solutions, an eight-year-old trade printer. Flap & Seal formerly occupied a 3,000 sq.-ft. site and now sits on a 12,500 sq.-ft. facility. Zafer says they can now house millions and millions of envelopes on site. Along with the move, the company has added three people and a new Halm two-colour press.

October 6, 2000Norampacs Leaside plant movesVAUGHAN, Ont.  Norampac Inc. announced that its moving its Leaside, Ont. plant to a new 400,000 sq.-ft. site in Vaughan. Marc-André Dépin, vice president and chief operating officer of corrugated products, says we were landlocked, we had no land left. And we were full capacity there [Leaside], so weve decided to build a new one in a new location. The corrugated products manufacturers Leaside plant was found on a 160,000 sq.-ft. site. Norampac will be adding two converting machines and one 110 corrugator, but no new staff. The new site will also include a paper warehouse. The operation has about 140 employees and sales are expected to be $1.1 billion for 2000. Dépin says the plant should be fully operational by the end of May, 2001. Also of note, Norampac purchased Armor Box of Buffalo, N.Y. late September.

The Star quiet about press breakdownVAUGHAN, Ont.  An industry source says the presses at the Toronto Stars printing plant were down Tuesday evening causing a three-hour delay in production and a subsequent delay in delivery. A pressroom employee would neither confirm nor deny the incident yesterday.

Statistics Canada issues numbersOTTAWA  Statistics Canadas Gross domestic product at factor cost by industry report states the printing and publishing industry fell 1.5% in July, after four months of successive increases. According to the report the drop was due to lower publishing activity. Total manufacturing output for Canada for the month of July rose to 6.5%. The report was released last week.Is it still a Macs-only club?HARRISVILLE, R.I.  TrendWatch, which issues reports on the graphics, publishing and electronic media markets, says printers and service bureaux are increasingly using PC files. But, only 16% of service bureaux and 17% of quick/commercial printers cite using PC-formatted files as a challenge. This is down 21% of service bureaux and 26% of quick/commercial printers as of a year ago.